Download Name

Name______________________________
Unit 5 Rome – Part 4
Christianity and the Byzantine Empire
Chapter 16 Christianity (p. 247-256)
Why Its Important (p. 247)
Lesson Essential Question 1 – What are the origins of Christianity?
A. What did Christians bring to the Roman Empire? Christians brought
new ideas and important changes to the Roman Empire.
B. Where did Christianity start? Palestine
Section 1: The Beginnings (p. 247-250)
C. On what is Christianity based? Christianity is based on the life and
teachings of Jesus.
D. What is a parable and why did Jesus use parables to teach?
1. Define parable – a story about people and things familiar to
listeners
2. Using parables, people can better understand the religious
principles Jesus was trying to teach.
Section 2: Christianity and Rome (p. 250-252)
Lesson Essential Question 2 – How did Christianity spread through the Roman
Empire?
Lesson Essential Question 3 – What difficulties did Christians face in Roman
society?
E. How did the Roman Empire allow Christianity to spread?
1. The Pax Romana let missionaries to move across Roman lands in
safety.
2. The system of Roman roads helped them go from one place to
another quickly.
3. Most people spoke either Latin or Greek, which allowed the
missionaries to talk with people directly.
Political Conditions (p. 250-251)
F. Why was Christianity not favored in Rome?
1. While Christians were allowed to worship freely, the roman
expected everyone to honor the emperor as a god.
2. The Christians, like the Jews, refused to do this.
3. The Christians stated only god could be worshipped.
4. The Romans also did not like other Christian ideas.
5. For example, Christians did not want to serve in the army or hold
public office.
6. Christians did not want to serve in the army or hold public office.
G. What things did the Romans blame on the Christians?
1. The Romans blamed and punished Christians for things such as
plagues and famines.
2. In 64 A. D., the Romans accused the Christians of starting a fire
that burned much of Rome.
H. What happened to Christianity? Christianity was made illegal and many
Christians were killed.
Spread of Christianity (p. 251-252)
I. What groups of people were attracted to Christianity? Why?
1. It was of interest to poor workers and enslaved people in the cities.
2. They led very hard lives.
3. They liked a religion that promised a happier life after death.
Constantine and Theodosius (p. 252)
J. What legend is told about Constantine I? As Constantine was going into
battle, he saw a flaming cross in the sky. Written beneath the cross in
Latin were the words in hoc signo vinces, which means “In this sign thou
shalt conquer.”
K. What did Constantine do to help Christianity grow?
1. He passed the Edict of Milan, which gave religious freedom to all
people.
2. It also made Christianity legal.
3. He had churches built in Rome and Jerusalem.
4. He used government money to pay for Christian schools.
5. He let church leaders enter government serve and excused them
from paying taxes.
L. What did Theodosius do? Theodosius made Christianity the official
religion of the Roman Empire.
Section 3: The Church (p. 252-256)
Lesson Essential Question 4 – How was the early church organized?
M. Why did early Christians form churches?
1. Define church – Christians living together in small groups.
2. The shared their possessions and took turns leading worship
services in homes and outdoors.
N. Who were the apostles? Apostles were people Jesus chose to teach his
gospel, which visited the different groups. The apostles taught and gave
advice. They also provided a sense of unity.
Church Structure (p. 253)
O. Why did early Christians develop church organization? When the
apostles died, Christians realized that Jesus was not going to return to
Earth as quickly as they expected. They looked for ways to hold their
churches together. One way was to organize them like the Roman
Empire’s government.
P. What did they use to organize their church? The used the Roman
Empire’s structure of government.
Q. How did the early Christians organize their church?
Pope – The archbishop of Rome eventually claimed power over the other archbishops.
The word “Pope” is Latin for “father.” Those that speak Latin began to see him as the
head of all churches.
Patriarch – Patriarchs were the five leading archbishops.
Archbishops – Archbishops were the most important bishops and they governed
churches in the larger cities.
Bishops – A bishop would head up each diocese. A diocese was a group of parishes
put together. The word diocese originally meant a Roman military district.
Priests and Parishes – Each church was called a parish. Each parish had a leader
called a priest.
Monks, Nuns, Monasteries, and Convents – Monks were Christian men who lived in
religioius settlements. These religious settlements were called monasteries. Nuns were
women who did the same thing. Nuns lived in religious settlements called convents.
Lesson Essential Question 5 – What relationship existed between Christianity and
Roman society before and after the time of Constantine?
R. Why did the Latin and Greek churches split into two groups?
1. The archbishop of Rome began to claim power over the other
archbishops.
2. By 600 A. D., he was called Pope.
3. Christians who spoke Latin saw him as the head of all the
churches.
4. Christians who spoke Greek, however, would not accept him as the
leader of their churches.
5. They turned to the archbishop of Constantinople.
6. In 1054 A. D., the two church groups separated.
7. The Latin churches as a group became known as the Roman
Catholic Church.
8. The Greek churches became known as the Eastern Orthodox
Church.
Monasteries (p. 254)
S. What were hermits? Hermits were early Christians who left the citites to
live and pray alone in isolated areas.
T. Who was Basil? What did he suggest?
1. Basil was a bishop.
2. He said that Christians should form religious settlements near
cities.
3. In this way, they would be protected from the evils of the word.
4. At the same time, they could help other people by doing good
deeds by setting an example of Christian living.
U. What were the following?
1. Monks – Christian Men who lived in religious settlements and
lived by certain rules.
2. Monasteries – The religious settlements that monks lived in.
3. Nun – Christian women who lived in religious settlements and
lived by certain rules.
4. Convents – The religious settlements that nuns lived in.
5. Abbot – An abbot was the leader of a monastery.
V. How did monks help western civilization survive? Monks helped
preserve many of the Roman and Greek writings. These helped western
civilization survive and progress.